Can you survive the next pandemic?

Throughout history, mankind has been violently reminded of its mortality by a combination of events which have all led to many deaths occurring on a massive scale. One main cause of such huge loss of life is war and civil strife. The other is disease breaking out on a major scale. Many experts are of the opinion that the arrival of the next great pandemic is merely a question of time and it is not a matter of if it will happen but when. In that case, the general conclusion is that mankind as a whole is greatly underprepared. In many great disease outbreaks in history, such as the Black Death, millions of lives were lost during a short period of time. In the various Influenza epidemics to ravage several countries in the last century alone, many people are known to have died.

For the purpose of clarity, a few definitions will be in order here; an epidemic is said to occur when a particular disease affects more people than usual or when such a disease spreads to certain other areas not usually associated with that particular kind of disease. A pandemic on the other hand, occurs when there is an unusual outbreak of the same type of disease affecting several different countries at once such as occurred during the Ebola disease outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and 2015. Other disease outbreaks early in this century such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the “Bird Flu” virus H5N1 and the “Swine Flu” virus H1N1 have often caused sickness in man with a few deaths reported. Although these particular viruses have not been able to cause death in the large numbers as seen even in the Ebola disease outbreak, the initial panic they caused and the confusion at various levels of authority were sufficient to warn the many discerning experts now working on a coherent global strategy to deal with such challenges to hunker down some more and provide further answers to these problems.

These deaths have been caused by various microbes, essentially getting into our systems to provoke the onset of disease and incapacitate or even kill in the millions. During the 20th Century alone, there were several influenza epidemics, the worst of which probably killed between 50 and 100 million people. There were other disease outbreaks of course, which also caused terrible disruptions to the health care system of many countries during the same century leading to the death of people often in the tens of millions.

The HIV infection which became a pandemic in the 1980s infected some 70 million people around the world of whom roughly half have died. It is probable that an entirely new disease would emerge suddenly, very quickly overwhelm many nations and their health care systems and cause widespread panic and death.

Alternatively, we could see a modification of an old disease presenting in a new form and similarly overwhelming the installed capacity of many countries around the world to cope with such a burden. The possibility and the likelihood of such a challenge occurring are very real and it is something that has occupied the minds of some of the most accomplished public health experts in some of the most advanced nations of the planet for some time and they work hard in the shadows to identify what problems might exist in order to fashion some kind of coordinated action plan that can be rapidly brought into effect in the event of such a disaster occurring in the near future. This has developed added urgency in the wake of the arrival on the world stage of new diseases caused by previously unknown viruses like SARS; MERS and Zika.

In the meantime, it is safe to assume that mankind probably has some kind of defence against diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. Against viruses, there are none. As for the known viruses, avoidance of contact with them has proven time and again to be the most effective means of disease prevention. Vaccinations are possible such as are available against influenza where vaccines known as “flu shots” are recommended for the vulnerable members of the population. The same is true for such diseases as Hepatitis and a few others. As for HIV/AIDS, the best form of defence against the virus is abstinence and avoidance of any form of risky behaviour that might put one in danger of contracting the virus. When an infection occurs, there can be no cure and the affected individual would have to cope essentially with a lifetime of drug usage.

As individuals, what options do we face? It is expected that in the face of such an epidemic of a similar magnitude in the future not to mention a pandemic, the person at risk must adopt certain life-saving tactics to avoid severe illness and death. You must avoid crowds and expectedly, live in a situation in which the authorities will have to shut schools, shut places of worship and even markets and outlaw all public gathering for the duration of the emergency. There should be no close bodily contact and funerals should be mandated to be private family affairs rather than the noisy carnivals that Africans in particular have become accustomed to. People should essentially barricade themselves within their homes, close to their radios and television sets in case of public announcements being made that will impact on their survival. Individuals should also keep in the home potable water enough to bathe and wash clothes and utensils for a period of two weeks. Some workers on these policies advocate stocks for up to six weeks. The same goes for food items. There should be torches provided in the home and several sets of new batteries to provide safe lighting if there is no power. A first aid box already discussed on this page is a must in case of an emergency. Medications will have to be based on the number of individuals in that home and their age. The habit of washing the hands frequently with soap and water must be adhered to.

As individuals, we have a responsibility to act safely to stay alive even in the most dire circumstances. We must remember that even death has an alternative. If you have not previously thought about the scenario painted above, the time to begin is now. As you do so, quietly put in place the key elements to guarantee your survival if push comes to shove. In Nigeria as elsewhere, the defeat of the Ebola virus disease led people to forget very quickly the health lessons they were taught.

Ask the doctor

Dear doctor, I am 25 years old. I had a major operation in 2005. In the process, they put something in my penis for the passage of urine. Three days after, I felt sharp pains in it and as the nurse wanted to pull it off, she used force and since then the size of my penis has not been up to 1.5 inches. I feel bad and sad looking at the embarrassing organ. Please doctor, how can I increase it? 0816xxxxxxx

I am certain that the size of your organ has nothing to do with the catheter that was placed inside your penis. The likelihood here is that your penis was small in size all the while leading up to the operation. If you are 25 years old now, it means you were 13 then and I would expect that your organ even back then would have been small. As I do not know what kind of operation you had, you would do well to first see your doctors back then and if they are convinced by your current status regarding the abnormally small penis, they could ask you to see a urologist since you are now a grown man.

Dear doctor, I am 23 years old. What would have been my first child died in my womb two days before my due date. What could be the cause? I went to see my doctor on Friday, he asked me to do a scan and then report back on Monday for induction. When I went for the scan on Monday, I discovered that the baby had died. Thanks. 0809xxxxxxx

Sorry about that. Many sad events occur around the time of delivery and a number of them are unforeseen. We have previously discussed some of those sad events that lead to the death of babies inside the womb in such an advanced pregnancy. Sometimes, it is because the umbilical cord develops a knot that essentially cuts off blood supply to the baby causing death. Sometimes, the placenta detaches either partially or completely with similar results. But in this case, there will be abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. Sometimes, the baby has stayed beyond 42 weeks in the womb and the placenta becomes inadequate to provide the baby’s needs. Death results suddenly.

Dear doctor, I occasionally feel a burning sensation under my right big toe. What could that indicate? 0805xxxxxxx

It may be an indication that a certain nerve root is pinched by the vertebrae in your lower back or because other physical attribute has placed a physical pressure on the nerve that supplies that part of the body some sensation or perhaps it is psychological. Your current age and the presence of any disease condition such as diabetes or lumbar spondylosis will determine if it is something to worry about.

Dear doctor, I thank you for the great work you are doing. May Almighty God bless you. I am a woman of 43 years and was diagnosed with uterine fibroid. I used to bleed every other month during menses. The last one I did was very serious with heavy clots of blood to the extent that my PCV (packed cell volume) dropped to 20 per cent. Please sir, what do you suggest I do since I am afraid of surgery? 0906xxxxxxx

Thank you very much for your prayers. God bless you too. Since you bleed so heavily, my advice to you would be to undergo surgery and have the entire uterus removed if you have completed having babies. It is important to do so in order to avoid a situation in which you suffer irreversible injury or death while running away from surgery. This operation is performed safely in many hospitals across the country on a routine basis. When blood levels are suddenly reduced, you can suffer a heart failure of collapse suddenly which are even worse than the operation you fear.

Dear doctor. I have an infection and I have seen a doctor who prescribed drugs for me. I have used the drugs several times but the infection has not gone. Please sir, what should I do? Is it possible to get pregnant when there is an infection? 0815xxxxxxx

If all your doctor did was to prescribe drugs for you, you have not been well served. When you have an infection such as the type you described that has refused to go despite several courses of antibiotic treatment, you ought to have basic laboratory tests conducted. When you have done so, it becomes easy to treat the infection. Depending on the type of infection you are talking about, you can still get pregnant. But first of all, see a proper doctor.

Dear doctor, I am 27 years old. I have a bent penis. It curves sharply to the right and this is very obvious when it is erect. Although I don’t usually have pain when I am urinating, I physically have to handle it to direct the urine to a desired spot whenever I urinate. Is this normal? 0803xxxxxxx

Well, very few penises are truly straight. But the degree of bending you described above seems to be severe. As there is no physically uncomfortable experience resulting from this bending, you can simply cope with it by handling it the way you have been doing. Nothing is perfect in nature.

Dear doctor, kudos to you. I want to know the symptoms of early pregnancy. Can I be menstruating and at the same time be pregnant? 0906xxxxxxx

Symptoms of early pregnancy vary widely. The first thing to happen is that the periods stop. Then there may be profound weakness, worse in the mornings and there may be vomiting. Some people spit saliva a lot and the appetite is poor. Scents, perfumes and certain soaps become very irritating and the breasts are heavier, darker and painful. Some people do not experience any of these and may in fact eat a lot more than they would usually do.

Some become very dull, lazy and irritable. Others do not notice any differences in their attitude. Those who are light in complexion become noticeably darker and some others always appear tired. Rarely, some women will menstruate even during pregnancy.

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